"TALES OF GHOSTS"
about Love and Death from the Land of Mists
a collection o short stories
in the “Playing Another Reality” series
"MASTER of FATES"
7. A NIGHT GUEST
The door closed, and Julia was left alone again. At night. T;te-;-t;te with ghosts. It seemed that even the brightest lamps couldn’t illuminate all the corners of such a huge and already half-empty flat.
Walking along the corridor, Julia heard the usual footsteps behind her. She froze for a moment and then ran to the kitchen. She locked the door and decided to call her husband’s twin brother, Dima, who lived in the next house.
“Hi!” he was pleasantly surprised.
“Listen, are you busy?”
“No, why?”
“Could you… come?”
“What’s happened?”
“Nothing…” Julia answered uncertainly, and heard again the creaking of the floorboards in the corridor.
“And why are you whispering?”
…They were drinking tea in the kitchen.
“Ghosts live in this flat,” Julia said.
“Do you want me to talk to my brother?” Dima asked.
“It’s useless… Sasha will just laugh at me once again! I’ve already told him that I’m afraid to be alone at night. Those shadows and footsteps…”
“Okay, so I’ll come to guard your peace, like a faithful dog. If you want…”
***
“What should I do?” Julia asked her husband.
“Go to bed when I leave,” he muttered. “I have to work at night now, but this is a temporary case, since we are leaving for Canada soon. Hasn’t it been you dreaming of emigration? Hang on a little more! I’m not ready to refuse a lucrative offer just because my wife naively believes in the afterlife!”
“If you love me…”
“I see no reason for fear, except for your fertile imagination! Ghosts don’t exist! And there is no one else in this flat at night, just you… and me!”
***
Julia handed a duplicate of the keys to Dima.
“Take it, please. Just in case… One never knows…”
He took the keys and gave her a strange look.
“Do you think I’m crazy?” she asked.
“No… Let’s go for a ride around the night city! You need to unwind your mind!”
Next to Dima, Julia felt like behind a stone wall.
***
It was difficult for Dima to remember his brother’s phone number. It happened so that they hadn’t communicated for a long time, but suddenly a serious issue, related to their mother’s grave, to be resolved immediately, appeared for the call.
“Do you know that Julia is tortured by ghosts in your flat?” asked Dima at the end of the conversation.
“And you too! Just think about it! Since when do you believe in ghosts? All her nonsense about anomalous phenomena, negative energy and other otherworldly stuff is unsubstantiated! Where are the facts? Provide at least one, and we’ll go on!”
“You said she had cardiac problems.”
“Are you suggesting that I quit my job and change flat a month before leaving?”
Dima smirked. An unusual thought came into his head.
***
There was a week left before the flight to Canada. They were already about to go to bed when the phone rang.
“What the hell!” Sasha swore as he hung up. “For some reason, they urgently call me to the office! Sorry… I’ll be back soon! Be patient a little longer! I promise you! It’s for the last time!”
“For the last time…” Julia echoed quietly to herself.
Sasha left at midnight. Julia went to the kitchen to boil the kettle. It was scary to fall asleep alone. Suddenly footsteps were heard. Julia automatically grabbed the phone and dialed Dima.
***
They were sitting at the kitchen table, facing each other.
“Listen,” said Dima, looking into her eyes. “I don’t want you to leave. Remain here. I need you… I can’t let you go…”
“I love… your brother,” Julia replied, looking at Dima in surprise.
“It only seems to you,” Dima took her hand and said softly, hypnotizing with his gaze. “There’s nothing left of your love to him. You’re just afraid to admit it.”
“No, I love him, and he loves me, too,” Julia said uncertainly.
“Would he leave you alone at night in this damn flat if he loved you?! It was me who stayed with you here, not him. I came every time he left you to the ghosts. What then do you think love is?”
“We are leaving, Dima,” Julia stood up abruptly and went to the window. “Everything will remain here, in the past. Your brother has achieved in life much more than you, and it’s your envy speaking!”
“Okay, then I guess I’d better go…”
Julia turned around. She didn’t want to let him go, but…
Dima stopped at the door.
“And I believe in ghosts! I really do!” he said in an ominous whisper. “Why are you running away from them all the time? Have you ever wondered if they wanted to tell you something important? To warn against something? For example, against moving to another country? Maybe they tried to change your life somehow? For the better, of course! Anyway, you made your choice… Bye-bye!”
***
Shortly after he left, Julia, who was reading a guide book to Canada in the bedroom to distract herself from the thoughts about ghosts, heard someone open the front door with keys. Footsteps sounded in the corridor. Julia huddled in the armchair and looked into the mirror hanging on the opposite wall.
“Sasha, is that you?” she shouted, overpowering herself.
No one answered. However, in the mirror, Julia noticed the door to the bedroom opening slowly and…
***
…When Sasha returned home, Julia was lying on the floor with her eyes wide open in horror. The doctor stated the death due to a rupture of the heart.
“Something must have frightened her very much,” the doctor supposed. “Were you out at that time?”
“I went to the office. Someone called, saying it was urgent… And it was a mistake! There was no need of me… This someone must have dialed a wrong number…”
February, 1998